What changes for 2027 and 2028 entry: Auckland and Otago

These are the changes we found on official pages, checked on 7 October 2026. Each links to its source, and the explorer has the full rows.

University of Auckland: Casper replaces UCAT ANZ for 2028 entry

The Auckland MBChB page gives two rules:

• 2027 entry: UCAT ANZ must be sat in the year of application and is worth 15 per cent of the final ranking for interviewed domestic applicants. International graduate applicants are not required to sit it.
• 2028 entry: domestic First Year and Graduate applicants, and international First Year applicants, sit the University of Auckland situational judgement test (Casper) in the year of application instead of the UCAT ANZ. For interviewed applicants it is worth 50 per cent of the final ranking, alongside the interview at 50 per cent. International graduate applicants are not required to sit Casper.

Auckland's 19 May 2026 news release describes the situational judgement test as replacing the current UCAT.

University of Otago: all applicants sit from 2028

The Otago knowledge base article says domestic Health Sciences First Year and Graduate applicants need a UCAT ANZ result from the year of application, reaching a threshold in all four sections that the Medical Admissions Committee sets each year. It says domestic and international applicants must sit the test from 2027, with limited exceptions, and that all applicants must from 2028. The article gives those years without saying whether they are the year you apply or the year you start, and it is not entirely clear on 2027 for every category, so read it directly and check with Otago. No threshold scores are published on it.

When New Zealand applicants sit

This guide's Year 10 to 12 labels are Australian. In New Zealand the final school year is Year 13, and the Consortium's eligibility page says students in New Zealand Year 12 are not eligible. Auckland and Otago both say the UCAT ANZ result must come from the year you apply. Auckland's First Year category is for students completing first-year university courses in the year of application, and Otago's article is aimed at Health Sciences First Year and Graduate applicants. So a New Zealand school leaver should read both pages for their own category and not assume the test is sat at school.

Curtin University: for context, not a change

Curtin medicine asks for both Casper and the UCAT ANZ, and that is not new. Its 2024 domestic admissions guide already asked non-Indigenous applicants to sit both, with the same 35 to 35 to 30 ranking. Its 2027 domestic admissions guide, linked from its course page, gives the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), Casper and UCAT ANZ in a ratio of 35 to 35 to 30 for interview ranking, and ATAR, UCAT ANZ and interview in 40 to 20 to 40 for final offers. The one difference in the ratio is that the UCAT ANZ score is now out of 2700, where the 2024 guide said 3600. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants are exempt from both tests.

What we have not confirmed

The UCAT ANZ's own 2027 dates, fees and format are not yet published. We will update the dates page when they are. We have not confirmed any other university's 2028 changes.

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